Ireland head coach Lloyd Tennant believes his team’s historic first-ever ICC Women’s T20 World Cup win can become a turning point for women’s cricket in the country.
Ireland defeated West Indies by six wickets in Bristol to register their first victory in Women’s T20 World Cup history after 22 attempts. The memorable win came just a day after the Ireland men’s team recorded their first-ever T20I victory over India, making it a special week for Irish cricket.
Star all-rounder Orla Prendergast played a huge role in Ireland’s success. She first took 1/29 from her four overs and then scored a brilliant 63 off 44 balls to guide her side to victory.
Head coach Lloyd Tennant said the result was the reward for the team’s hard work, patience and willingness to keep learning throughout the tournament. Even after several disappointing results in the past, the players never stopped believing they could achieve something special.
“It’s been a great learning experience,” Tennant said after Ireland’s historic win. Ireland had shown good signs during the tournament but had not managed to turn those performances into victories. Tennant was happy to finally see every part of the team’s game come together at the right time.
“We’ve played well at times and come the wrong end of a result, and we haven’t performed to our best at other times. So it was lovely today to get everything together and get across the line.
“We executed perfectly almost today. But we always knew that if we could get the game together, if we could bat and bowl well together, then we’d get that win. And the other thing that people have probably criticized the side for— our field in the past has not been great, but we’ve been a unit out in the middle and we’ve looked much better in the field.”
When speaking to the media after the match, Tennant reminded everyone that this Ireland squad is still very young, with an average age of just 23. He believes there is still plenty of room for improvement and that this victory can give the players confidence for the future.
“Everyone wants to grow a bit quicker, but I think with the age of the squad, we have to have some patience,” he continued. “We don’t play in these competitions every day, so these are massive learning circles for us, and we’ll take a lot from it.”
“I think that to get the win is massive, it’s a great day and all that, but I think on a bigger scale, the girls have got belief that, if we can continue to grow and grow quick enough and develop as a team, where can we get to? How many great days like this can we have? So it’s given us a lot of belief that we can compete with the best teams.”
Tennant also believes the success of both the men’s and women’s teams can help cricket grow across Ireland. He hopes more people will start following the sport, supporting the teams and joining local cricket clubs after seeing these memorable victories.
“I think it will be huge, it’ll get a lot of press, it’ll be great for women’s cricket,” Tennant continued. “The men winning yesterday was that will go worldwide, won’t it? So hopefully it’s a big occasion for us.
“I’m hoping more and more people sit and put the telly on and watch it. If we get that, even if people come and support or they want to get involved in cricket clubs, that’s growing the game for us.”
Ireland will now enjoy five days off before starting preparations for a three-match ODI series against West Indies. The series begins on July 10, 2026 (Friday) in Bready, Northern Ireland.
Tennant knows moving from T20 cricket to the 50-over format will be a challenge, but he believes his players can carry the confidence from this famous win into the upcoming series. He feels that if Ireland can continue playing with the same belief and teamwork, they can give the West Indies another tough contest.
“We’ve played so much T20 leading up, I think a 50-over game is going to feel long, the first one. I’m hoping that the things we’ve done, we can just extend so that we will come out on the right side of a couple of results. We know it’s going to be tough. Obviously West Indies are a good side, and in general, I suppose they’re going to be expected to beat us. But we think if we get things right, we can compete and push them.”
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